CREDITON 29 - WADEBRIDGE 13

THE recent upturn in form for the First Fifteen continued on Saturday, November 26 against high-flying Wadebridge who, until this game, had been undefeated away from home.

This was indeed a quality performance for the entire 80 minutes against a side that also played some good rugby. The opening 20 minutes were actually dominated by the visitors and yet during that period they found themselves 7-6 down.

Their opening attacks looked threatening and our defence was stretched. However after only three minutes we were seven points up.

A Wadebridge attack broke down on our 10-metre line and centre Jason Luff took advantage of a stray pass and ran the full 60 metres to score under the posts, Mark Lee landed the conversion.

Undeterred, Wadebridge continued their onslaught and were rewarded with a couple of penalties but effectively, that is as good as it got for them.

Once that storm had been weathered, we began to take control and with almost total dominance in the scrum we were able to provide the threequarters with some quality possession and with ball in-hand we were looking dangerous.

After 20 minutes the lead was extended when the ball was run wide to the left and Luff, with a superb arcing run, went in for the second try.

Wadebridge found it difficult to get past a superb Crediton defence whose line speed and first up tackles were outstanding.

Things got even better when Lee broke down the right and chipped over the oncoming defence and, taking advantage of a kind bounce, exchanged passes with Ed Brady before Lee eventually went over. His conversion put us 19-6 ahead at the interval.

The opening exchanges of the second half saw the visitors on the front foot and it was not long before they reduced the arrears with a try off a driving maul, the conversion brought them back to within a score and a potentially nervous last half 30 minutes for the home support.

The game continued end-to-end with both sides defending and attacking in turn. Eventually though it was Luff once again who broke clear and and made it to the line, Lee converted for a 26-13 lead and with a penalty in the last few minutes, the game was made safe.

Victories against St Austell, Burnham and Wadebridge plus the narrow defeat at the then league leaders, Truro, has brought a renewed confidence.

The forwards are dominating their opposition and the backs look quick and inventive. Of course we are still third from bottom and in the relegation dogfight but if we can maintain this level of performance there is no reason why we cannot reach the mid table safety zone.

NEWTON ABBOT SECONDS 22 - CREDITON QUINS 22

Crediton Seconds travelled to Newton Abbot for a Devon Merit Table One fixture and within 10 minutes of the start they found themselves 0-7 down after the Newton Abbot forwards drove over from a line out to score a converted try.

Ten minutes later the home side increased their lead to 0-14 when Crediton lost a scrum on the half-way line and the Newton Abbot backs broke through the Crediton defensive line to touch down for a second converted try.

Crediton regrouped and the forwards started to take a bit of control with some strong ball carrying, coupled with strong driving mauls which were putting the Newton Abbot defence on the back foot.

On 25 minutes following another good driving maul by the Crediton pack the ball was recycled quickly and Chris Simpson cut a fine angle to go over for an unconverted try.

A second score for Crediton came almost immediately when good interplay by the backs created an overlap for Sam Harris and he went over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Newton Abbot increased their lead with a penalty kick when Crediton were penalised for crossing, but just before half-time Chris Simpson touched down for his second try of the game which again came as a result of a good backs move, with Tom Phillips adding the extras to make the half-time score 17-17.

Injuries meant Crediton had to make a couple of changes for the start of the second half but they immediately got their noses in front when prop Kevin Ellis was on the back of a driving maul to get the final touch down for an unconverted try.

Further injuries forced Crediton into making more adjustments but they were making Newton Abbot work hard for any territory and possession they were getting.

The second half was all about defences being on top, each denying the other space, and the physicality in the contact area, and the collisions in the tackles was becoming intense.

With the clock ticking down the hard-working Crediton side were hanging on to their slender lead but the Crediton injuries were beginning to take their toll, and with minutes left on the clock Newton Abbot recycled the ball to their big forwards who drove over in the corner for an unconverted try, making the final score a 22-22 draw.

Whilst a draw was, on balance, a fair result it was still heartbreaking for the Crediton players to lose in the dying minutes, especially considering all the effort they had put in to overcome two early scores against them, and losing key players with injuries.

Paul Harris